| RADIO HERCEG-BOSNA (18,00 hrs) | BH TV 1(19,00 hrs) | FED TV(19,30 hrs) | RT RS(19,30) |
| Gasstation attacker caught | Unsolved murders in Pale | Srebrenica – 230 exhumed | Workers on strike fired |
| 1998 murder trial renewed | Reg. police cooperation | Exhumation in Sjekovac | No solution for INGA |
| Pejcic still in custody | Election lists published | Miljevina – 30 exhumed | RS union demands |
| EU supports BiH tourism | BiH officials on leave | Election faces problems | Exhumation in Sjekovac |
Oslobodjenje | Who stands behind crimes in Miljevina and Foca: Velibor Ostojic walks only in the night |
| Dnevni Avaz | Decision on sending troops to |
| Dnevni List | Meeting of High Representatives: Pejakovic is starting what Paddy dares not |
| Vecernji List | Verdict to Ivan Bender cancelled |
| Slobodna Dalmacija | Road bandits steal cars |
| Glas Srpske | They were looking for waste, and found a baby; Bozana Lepir denies Pejo Krnjic: Tihic without support |
| Nezavisne Novine | Milenko Vracar under investigation of RS Prosecutor’s Office; Rogalji near Gradiska: Abandoned baby found in a water; Exhumations from mass grave at Sijekovac: It is suspected majority of 58 victims were civilians from Vukovar; Vinko Krizan: BiH border is “porous” at 400 places |
| Blic | He was looking for sheet metal, and found an abandoned baby |
| Vecernje Novosti | Features Serbian related topics |
| Belgrade’s Nacional | Features Serbian related topics |
| War crimes/exhumations |
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| 230 bodies exhumed from Gljeceva mass grave in Srebrenica area | FTV – A total of 132 complete body remains and 99 incomplete body remains have been excavated from the secondary mass gravesite in Gljeceva, Srebrenica municipality. These are remains of Bratunac and Srebrenica war victims, which were killed between 1992 – 1995. Exhumations lasted for almost one month, and it is believed that bodies are transported to Gljeceva from two primary mass graves. Forensics says that identification of incomplete body remains will be difficult. | |
| Exhumation at the site of Sjekovac continued | FTV, RTRS, Nezavisne Novine cover and pg 5 ‘It is suspected majority of victims are from Vukovar’ – Remains of one adult were exhumed on Tuesday from the mass gravesite Sjekovac near Bosanski Brod.This is 59th victim exhumed during 20 days of the exhumations. Among these 59 persons’ remains, 18 belonged to children. Doboj district judge Slavko Krulj said that it is suspected that those remains belong to Vukovar ( | |
| Remains of 30 victims exhumed in Miljevina so far | FTV, Dnevni Avaz pg 3 ‘Victims were being killed on the mine waste dump’ – Remains of30 victims have been exhumed during the past three days from the mass-grave site at the coalmine in Miljevina. All 30 bodies belong to males of different age.According to existing data,one group of Jelec and Miljevina residentswas killedand brought to this location, and then covered with waste materials from the mine. The others are killed directly on this location, what proves cartridge cases found on the spot. It is not known does those bodies belongs to victims from Foca prison. Total number of bodies buried in the grave is still unknown, but President of State Commission for Missing Persons Amor Masovic says that they think there might be more than a hundred of bodies. Nezavisne Novine pg 5 ’21 bodies exhumed’ also covered the issue. | |
| Who stands behind crimes in Miljevina and Foca? | Oslobodjenje cover page pg 7 ‘Velibor Ostojic walks only in the night’ – According to the daily, a story on creators of crimes against civilians in Foca and Miljevina cannot be told without mentioning Velibor Ostojic, one of the SDS founder and senior wartime RS official. “He is practically hiding. He does not show in public and he comes out from his shelter only in the night,” say relatives of the victims. The list of criminals does not end with him. It also includes: Vojislav Maksimovic, Petko Cancar, Leko Vukovic, | |
| Luka Karadzic says his brother Radovan in good health condition | Oslobodjenje pg 9 ‘My brother Radovan is healthy’, Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Radovan Karadzic did not suffer stroke’, Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 12, ‘Brain stroke is a provocation’, by M. Skobic – Luka Karadzic, the brother of Radovan Karadzic, an ICTY indictee, denied media allegation that his brother had recently had a stroke and labeled it as a provocation aimed at identifying his brother’s whereabouts. | |
| Croat liaison officer with ICTY on crimes against Croats, pre-trial release for Prlic and others | Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 12 ‘Six Croats arrive from The Hague in September’, mentioned on front, by Zoran Zekic – carries the Croat liaison officer with the ICTY, Goran Mihaljevic, as saying that there will be no more indictments for the BiH Croats. He also says that at the moment, investigators of the ICTY are in Bugojno where they will be investigating into circumstances related to crimes against the Croats. Apparently, suspects include the wartime Mayor of Bugojno, Dzevad Mlaco, and his associates. Regarding the pre-trial release of Jadranko Prlic, Bruno Stojic, Berislav Pusic, Valentin Coric, Slobodan Praljak and Milivoj Petkovic, Mihaljevic says they will most likely be on pre-trial release as of September. | |
| DL on Police cooperation, arrest of war criminals | Dnevni List, pg 2 ‘Uniting of Police forces a mission impossible!?’, by Miso Relota – carries an op-ed about a recent initiative of the Chairman of BiH Council of Ministers, Adnan Terzic, about formation of a joint Police team of BiH and Serbia and Montenegro, whose task would be to arrest war criminals. The author stresses that the reality on the ground shows that at the moment, a Police officer from the FBiH cannot operate in the RS and vice versa, let alone in Serbia and Montenegro. However, the author notes that things are moving forward, as demonstrated yesterday at Podgorica where Directors of Police forces from the region signed a joint statement on fight against crime. Still, the author fears that the fact that war criminals are still very rich can buy them the freedom they are enjoying right now because the underpaid Police can be easily corrupted. | |
| RS Association of POWs announces Carla del Ponte’s visit | Vecernji list, pg 3, ‘Del Ponte arrives to BiH again in autumn’, by Renata Radic – Slavko Jovicic, the President of the RS Association of Camp Inmates, says that, in her letter of thanks for delivering the documentation on war crimes, Carla del Ponte, the Chief ICTY Prosecutor, says that she would like to come to the RS in autumn to talk to war victims and the families of the missing. Although the visit has not been confirmed, Jovicic says they would also like del Ponte to visit a memorial mass grave containing 450 unidentified victims. “The camp inmates would like the ICTY Prosecution to keep on working until 2008 as we do not trust domestic judiciary. If a Serb were giving testimony in the notorious barracks where the BiH Court is located, he/she would surely not be protected but would be humiliated“, Jovicic says. | |
| SDU demands sanctions | Nezavisne Novine (first edition) pg. 4 ‘To sanction RS authority’ by Fena, Dnevni Avaz pg 9 ‘The international community must punish RS authorities’ – SDU party has asked from international institutions to continue sanctioning those from RS authority responsible for lack of cooperation with the Hague Tribunal, stated SDU President Miro Lazovic in Sarajevo yesterday. He added that SDU asks from RS democratic forces to initiate processes on individualizing and sanctioning crimes in order to lift a mortgage from Serb people. | |
| Colak on documents requested by ICTY | Dnevni Avaz pg 5, mentioned on cover “‘We have still not found any document requested by the Hague Tribunal Prosecution Office’ – HDZ BiH leader Barisa Colak told the daily that not a single document requested from the party by the ICTY had been found so far. The documentation relates to the wartime activities of HDZ,
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| Economic/social issues |
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| BiH farmers cancelled announced protests | Herceg Bosna Radio, FTV, RTRS, Oslobodjenje pg 6 ‘New customs tariffs as of August 17’, Dnevni Avaz pg 2 ‘Terzic promised start of application of the law on customs tariffs’, Slobodna Dalmacija, back pg ‘Farmers call off protests’, by D. P. – The BiH Farmers Association will not held protests and blockade of roads that were being prepared because of non-application of the amendments to the custom tariffs law since they are expecting positive results of a meeting with the BiH Council of Ministers Chair, Adnan Terzic, scheduled for August 16.Terzic guaranteed them full application of this Law as of August 17, so there is no need for planed actions.If this does not happen, protests will start on August 18. | |
| EU provides 600,000 euros to support tourism development in BiH | Herceg Bosna Radio, FTV, RTRS, Oslobodjenje pg 3 ‘600,000 euros for development of tourism’, Dnevni List, pg 6 ‘Foreigners do not trust domestic business people’, by M. Baterello, Pincom.biz, FENA – The EU has provided a grant of 600,000 euro to support the development of tourism in BiH as part of the CARDS 2002/EU RED program aimed at supporting economic development in BiH. The Delegation of the European Commission in BiH announced a public invitation for gathering proposals of potential tourism projects to be financed. The funds are intended for the development and strengthening of the tourism sector and promotion of the cultural and natural heritage, which will help create jobs in this sector and increase the number of visits of both foreign and domestic tourists to destinations in BiH. The EU stated that the tourism sector has been identified in regional strategies as one of the priority sectors for creating a sustainable economy, and this is thanks to the significant diversity of tourism resources throughout BiH. Governmental and “semi-governmental” tourism organisations, non-governmental organisations and other associations in possession or taking care of tourism destinations are the possible users of these funds. The invitation is extended to private companies operating in the tourism sector. The final deadline for submitting project proposals is October 19. | |
| OHR calls for introduction of Public Moneys Law | Herceg Bosna Radio, Oslobodjenje pg 4 ‘Urgently protect interest of the citizens’, Dnevni Avaz pg 8 ‘Draft law on public moneys should be forwarded to the FBiH Government as soon as possible’, Dnevni list, pg 5, ‘Public call to Minister Vrankic’, by I. Tabucic – “As you know, after the revelations contained in the reports published by the Special Auditor last year on the operations of public companies in BiH, the three prime ministers committed themselves to introducing speedy and effective reforms that would stop a small number of well-placed individuals stealing or misusing money that belongs to the people of BiH. One of these reforms is dealt with in the Entity Laws on Investment of Public Monies, which will ensure that all investments at every level of the government are only made according to clear and enforceable criteria. At the State level, investment of Public Monies is to be addressed by the new State Law on Finance,” said OHR Spokesman Oleg Milisic at a press conference in | |
| BiH beer producers accuse Terzic of destroying domestic production | Dnevni List, pg 12 ‘Beer producers accuse Terzic that he is working for Interbrew of Belgium’, by Pincom.biz – The Association of BiH beer producers has accused the Chairman of BiH Council of Ministers, Adnan Terzic, that the Interbrew of Belgium lobbied with him in order not to tax the imported beer from Serbia and Montenegro. Apparently, the Association wanted the imported beer from S&M to be taxed 0,30 KMs per bottle since BiH beers are taxed in S&M and the Association got backing from the Director of ITA, Kemal Causevic. However, Terzic rejected the request. The beer producers claim there is a so-called ‘import lobby’ in the BiH Council of Ministers and other state institution that works at the detriment of domestic producers. | |
| Update to “Buk Bijela” plant project | Nezavisne Novine, pg. 2 ‘“Buk Bijela” will not be constructed if it would endanger Tara canyon’ by P. Klincov – RS Government yesterday confirmed that the “Buk Bijela” project will not be implemented should it be proven that it would endanger protected areas of Tara, Pliva and Sutjeska canyons, as ecologists from Montenegro have already warned. The Associate of RS Minister for Energy, Zdravko Milovanovic, has stated that there is no need to speculate on possible endangering of national parks until a study on influence on environment is made. RS Ministry of Energy claims ecologists have made assumptions on base of a previous project on the construction of hydropower plants, which included only the construction of “Buk Bijela” hydropower plant. According to the Ministry, the construction of two hydropower plants – “Buk Bijela” and “Foca/Srbinje” – is planned at the moment in order to protect environment. Milovanovic concluded: “This will surely reduce quantity of accumulations but it would be illogical to claim there would be absolutely no influence on environment.” | |
| Abandoned baby found in Gradiska
| Nezavisne Novine cover and pg 11 ‘Abandoned baby found in a water’; Glas Srpske cover page story ‘They were looking for waste, and found a baby’; EuroBlic cover and RSpg 1 ’ He was looking for sheet metal, and found an abandoned baby’ – All dailies report on discovery of an abandoned baby (baby girl born few hours before she was discovered on Monday morning at pebble stock in the settlement of Rogolji near Gradiska). Baby was subject to urgent medical treatment at Gradiska hospital and yesterday morning transported to Banja Luka Clinicla Centre. Her state is currently stable, while police is searching after unconscious mother of a baby.
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| Political developments |
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| BiH Election Commission verifies candidates for local elections | BH Radio 1 – The BiH Election Commission said on Tuesday in BHTV – Until now, commission received75% of funds needed for successful elections process. Printing of voting forms for 13 RS municipalities for which FTV, Oslobodjenje pgs 4-5 ‘Candidacy lists verified’, Dnevni Avaz pg 8 ‘How to print ballots for municipalities in RS with Serb prefix?’, mentioned on cover ‘Printing of ballots started’, Nezavisne Novine pg 2 ‘Printing of ballots commenced’ by N. Krsman, Glas Srpske pg 3 ‘Stamp on lists’ by V. Stakic,Dnevni List, pg 2 ‘2.057 candidates will not be taking part in elections’, mentioned on front, by D. P. M., Vecernji List, pg 2 ‘More than 27.000 candidates in running for power’, by dja,Slobodna Dalmacija, pg 16 ‘BiH ballot papers for the first time’, by B. Kristo also covered the issue. | |
| Ashdown meets with alternative High Representative Pejakovic | Oslobodjenje pg 3, mentioned on cover ‘Transfer powers to the domestic authorities’, Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘Ashdown and Pejakovic stand for strengthening of BiH institutions’, Nezavisne Novine pg 4 ‘Ashdown and Pejakovic met’, FENA – High Representative Paddy Ashdown received on Tuesday the alternative High Representative Josip Pejakovic, says a statement issued by the alternative Presidency of BiH. Ashdown and Pejakovic agreed upon that the mandate of the High Representative should be brought to its end as soon as possible with his competences/powers transferred to the local authorities. | |
| PDHR Hays to meet municipal officials in Jajce | Oslobodjenje pg 4 ‘How to improve services to citizens’, Dnevni Avaz pg 12 ‘Donald Hays to visit mosque and monastery’, FENA – The Principal Deputy High Representative, Donald Hays, will visit Jajce on Wednesday and this is the latest in a series of visits which Ambassador Hays has made to municipalities all across BiH, during which he has listened to the challenges faced by municipal staff in their efforts to improve services to citizens. In Jajce Ambassador Hays will meet Mayor Branko Cavar and other representatives of the local authorities before visiting the | |
| PDHR Donald Hays’ municipalization-related editorial in DL | Dnevni List, pg 9, ‘Municipality of Ljubuski a good model for organization of state’ – in an article about ways for municipalities to resolve their and their citizens’ problems, which the Principal Deputy High Representative Donald Hays wrote following a series of visits to municipalities throughout BiH, PDHR Hays says: “The two things that continue to impress me are well-run municipalities that work effectively for the citizens and that are focused on bread-and-butter issues and the unity of purpose that these municipal governments reflect in their activities – expending significant amounts of political capital in an effort to put together coalitions that can promote progress. They have made progress in such areas as attracting investment, creating jobs, improving local infrastructure, getting funding for development projects, and upgrading social services. This means in almost all cases cross-party coalitions within the municipal government, and coalitions of municipalities, banding together in order to tackle problems that affect entire regions”. PDHRsingled Ljubuski out as an illustration of the above said. | |
| DL interview: Safet Orucevic | Dnevni List, pg 4 ‘Coalition HDZ-SDA should be placed under control’, mentioned on front, by Nermin Bise – in an interview for DL, a former Mayor of Mostar, Safet Orucevic, confirmed that he would not be taking part in any activity related to local elections in Mostar. Questioned to comment on the new Statute of Mostar, Orucevic says that owing to the Statute and elections rules, there will not be an outright winner in Mostar, since no major decision cannot be made without agreement of all three constituent peoples, by two-third majority vote (in the City Council). Questioned to comment on the outcome of elections in Mostar, Orucevic says one cannot count on HDZ and SDA suffering a defeat, instead Orucevic says other parties should form a block, without which SDA and HDZ could not take decisions on their own. | |
| SNSD on support to Tihic | Glas Srpske cover page report ‘Tihic without support’ by G.D. – The SNSD members did not support the initiative of Sulejman Tihic regarding change of RS symbols, Bozana Lepir told GS. She noted that: “SNSD has three delegates at the Club of Croats at the RS Council of Peoples. It is not true that we, as Pejo Krnjic, President of the Club of Croats, stated, supported the initiative.” By giving this statement, she actually supported the statement given two days ago by Igor Radojicic, SNSD Secretary General. | |
| SNS demands dismissal of Tihic | Glas Srpske pg 2 ‘Tihic must leave’ by M. Mi. – SNS yesterday released a press statement, in which this Party expressed its view that Sulejman Tihic must leave the position at the BiH Presidency, because it is clear that he and his party do not give up on war-time goals of Alija Izetbegovic and his programme of Islamic Declaration. | |
| Visit to Zvornik | Glas Srpske pg 2 ‘They demand re-location of Ministries’ by S. Savic; Nezavisne Novine pg 3 ‘Initiative for re-location of RS institutions launched’ by N.N. – Remzija Kadric, Chairperson of the Council of Peoples at the RS NA, yesterday proposed that some parts of the state institutions and institutions from Sarajevo and Banja Luka should be re-located to Zvornik, owing to specific location and importance this town holds. Kadric stressed that owing to local administration in Zvornik, conditions for sustainable return of Bosniaks to this city have been ensured. Kadric was leading a tripartite delegation of the RS Council of Peoples with MP’s Ramiz Salkic and Fadil Banjanovic during the visit to Zvornik. | |
| PDP comments on Lagumdzija | Glas Srpske pg 2 ‘Lagumdzija has taken off his mask’ by J. N.; Nezavisne Novine pg 6 ‘Lagumdzija is a hypocrite’ by N.N. – PDP yesterday released a press statement reacting on statement by Zlatko Lagumdzija, SDP of BiH President. (NOTE: Lagumdzija stated: “I must admit I feel sorry for Ivanic. A year and a half ago, Mladen Ivanic, like Party for BiH committed to revive coalition SDS, HDZ and SDA and to enable them establish BiH CoM. That is when the fall of Ivanic has commenced, when Ivanic appeared like a safety fuse of SDS, turned into a SDS microphone. However, I am afraid he has lately determined to be not the SDS spokesperson but a recommender of SDS ideas.”) PDP is of the view that the leader of the SDP of BiH “has showed his hypocrisy through his latest assaults against PDP and its leader Mladen Ivanic”. PDP release reads: “His reaction upon PDP announcement it would dispute the term “Bosnian language” shows how far this somewhat used politician is far away from tolerance. This has showed to PDP that Lagumdzija has finally taken off his mask and showed his face identical to Tihic’s face.” | |
| Paravac supports Draskovic’s proposal | Nezavisne Novine pg 5 ‘Fund for war reparations of victims of war in former Yugoslavia’ by M. Cubro – Borislav Paravac, Serb member to BiH Presidency, will demand that the agenda of one of the upcoming sessions of the BiH Presidency includes discussion on possible establishment of the Fund for war reparations of the victims of the past war in former Yugoslavia. Drago Vukovic, Paravac’s advisor, yesterday confirmed: “I think Paravac would demand this idea be included into agenda. Our stance is that it would be good to establish this Fund, because lawsuits bring no solution. That is the reason why we supported the idea of Boris Tadic, Serbian President that all lawsuits of regional states should be dropped.” Vuk Draskovic, SiCG Foreign Minister, stated that BiH lawsuit against SiCG would not contribute to creation of friendly relations in the region. He noted: “I am of the view the suffering of people must be separated from lawsuits, which is the reason why it would be good to establish the Fund for war reparations for war victims.” | |
| SRS demands audits
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Glas Srpske pg 2 ‘Audit at funds’ by C.D. – At yesterday’s press conference in Prijedor, Milanko Mihajlica, President of the RS Serb Radical Party, reiterated Party demands for removals of SDA ministers from RS Government. He also said this Party opposes to establishment of a single police force in BiH. He informed the press his party is not satisfied with the work of judicial authorities in RS and demanded audit at all public companies and public funds, where the most of the money is deposited. | |
Defence/security |
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| SCG, | Herceg Bosna Radio, BHTV, FTV, RTRS, Oslobodjenje pg 8 ‘Police cooperation in the region agreed’, Dnevni Avaz pg 4 ‘Joint statement adopted on cooperation in fight against crime’, Nezavisne Novine pg 2 ‘To oppose crime and terrorism through cooperation’, Dnevni List, pg 3 ‘Directors of Police forces from region adopt joint statement on cooperation’, by NINA – Police of SCG, BIH, Albania, Macedonia and UNMIK signed a statement in Podgorica on Tuesday on further improvement of their cooperation in fight against all sorts of crime.It was also said that it is necessary to cut criminal networks connected to terrorism and establish cooperation together with international community. In the statement it is emphasised that the security of Olympic games is a special security challenge and therefore represent a special task for all police structures. Police Directors agree to hold such meetings every 3 months and the host of the next one should be | |
| BiH border “unprotected” | Nezavisne Novine cover and pg 6 ‘BiH border is “porous” at 400 places’ by R. Cengic – This is a brief interview with Vinko Krizan, Deputy Director of the F BiH Customs Administration, who notes that the BiH border is “porous” (unprotected) at 400 places, where it is possible to illegally export goods, while customs services and other services fail to do their job. He notes that the tax collection in F BiH flows according to the plan. | |
| Dnevni Avaz: Decision on sending troops to | Dnevni Avaz cover page, pg 2 ‘Decision on sending troops to Iraq should be reviewed’ – Asked by the daily to comment on the SDU-initiated petition against sending of BiH soldiers to Iraq, Party for BiH leader Safet Halilovic pointed at necessity that such an operation had to be in compliance with UN Resolution. SDA Vice-president Elmir Jahic said the decision made by the BiH Presidency should be reconsidered in the context of the worsened situation in
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| Judicial affairs |
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| Trials of Jelavic and others to start on September 23 | Dnevni List, pg 3 ‘Trials to Jelavic starts on September 23’, mentioned on front, by N. Dedic – the daily learns from Josip Muselimovic, a lawyer that represents Ante Jelavic, that a judge of the BiH Court, Malcolm Simmons, has scheduled trials against Jelavic, Miroslav Prce and Miroslav Rupcic for September 23, 2004 or first available slot after September 23. According to Muselimovic, defence team is planning to summon many witnesses, including former members of the Croatian Government from the period between 1995-2001, namely Zlatko Matesa (former Croatian PM), Andrija Hebrang (former Defence Minister, current Healthcare Minister) and Borislav Skegro (former Finance Minister). An inset on pg 3 ‘Another charges being prepared’ notes that sources close to BiH Prosecution say that investigative operations on the Hercegovacka bank case are not over and that a new charges could be pressed soon. Among people that are mentioned in context of new charges are Ivan Azinovic, Ljubo Cesic Rojs, Ivan Medic and Vilim Primorac. | |
| VL: Verdict to Bender abolished | Vecernji List, front and pg 3 ‘Verdict to Ivan Bender cancelled’, by Robert Soldo – according to unofficial information coming from the FBiH Supreme Court, the last year’s verdict to former Director of Pension/Disability Insurance Mostar, Ivan Bender, who was sentenced to 4,5 years imprisonment, and Director of TUN Invest-Mostar Company, Marijo Boras, who was sentenced to 3 years imprisonment for the ‘Hotel Ero’ case, has been cancelled. Apparently, new trials will be conducted before the FBiH Supreme Court. Bender and | |
| Milenko Vracar under investigation
| Nezavisne Novine cover and pg 3 ‘Milenko Vracar under investigation of RS Prosecutor’s Office;’ by P. Klincov – NN learnt that acting upon an order of the RS Prosecutor’s Office, RS Police is running an investigation against Milenko Vracar, former RS finance minister and former director of Nova Banjalucka Banka, and Ljiljana Tesic, former executive director of this bank, on grounded suspicion they committed a criminal act of abuse of office. NN got possession of a document, which is actually an order of the NN further learnt that two days ago, RS police seized some documents from Nova Banjalucka Banka related to guarantees this bank gave on contracts signed between the Company “Galaxy” from
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